All I Want To Do Is Live: A Collection of Creative Nonfiction My name is Trace Ramsey. I am a writer based in Durham, North Carolina. I am partnering with my publisher, Pioneers Press, to print a large run of my new collection of creative nonfiction, All I Want To Do Is Live. This collection comprises both published and brand new essays, poetry, and vignettes. Through this Hatchfund campaign, we hope to cover—at least—the costs of the printing and use proceeds from sales to continue expanding the Pioneers Press catalog of up-and-coming authors. Here is what I have so far: a finished cover and most of the layout, a publisher eager to see this book through, a printer, a distributor, dedicated readers, and a solid platform of social media presence. What I don't have: neither the publisher nor I now have the resources to make this book what we want it to be. This is where you can help. We are seeking to raise $10,000 to cover printing of the book, perks, freight, postage, and book design. “As his work continues to get better, we stand solid in our belief that Trace Ramsey is a major talent destined to write things that last.” Pioneers Press As a writer, the last three years have treated me well. In 2013, Pioneers Press—an independent publisher based in Kansas—took a chance on my work and decided to both distribute my chapbooks and publish an anthology of my early work. This has led to frequent collaboration and a push to improve my writing. Working with Jessie Duke from Pioneers Press has made my progress possible. When Pioneers Press took me on in 2013, I didn’t imagine our collaboration would spawn an Emerging Artists Grant in Literature, acceptance into the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and an award in creative nonfiction from the North Carolina Literary Review. All of this came from a chapbook of memoir vignettes that Jessie took a chance on and added to their catalog. “[Ramsey's essay] does not miss a beat. It is wonderfully detailed and rich with the melancholy of memory. The writer does a fine job of capturing a life through its particulars.” Jim Grimsley (How I Learned To Shed My Skin), judge for the Alex Albright Creative Nonfiction Award from the North Carolina Literary Review, September 2016 From Jessie Duke: “Trace Ramsey is the kind of writer independent publishers dream about; talented, driven, and undeterred by the incredible amount of time, energy and courage it takes to be successful. At Pioneers Press we also look for writers that are not only willing to promote our projects, but who are passionate about supporting and advocating for their fellow authors and are excited about growing our publishing company together. None of our writers has exemplified this commitment more than Trace. While exploring options for printing All I Want to Do is Live, Trace recognized that by receiving outside support Pioneers Press can produce this book at the level of quality we want and in the quantity we need. This will have a huge impact on the success of Trace's book and puts Pioneers Press in a better position to serve our authors now and in the future. Here's why: Being able to print more books allows us to work with more bookstores and wholesalers and offering an artfully designed book that's going to pop on their shelves greatly increases the chance of them ordering from us. The relationships we build with distributors through the release of Trace's new book will give all of our titles better exposure and grow a larger audience for Trace and the Pioneers Press authors. And as Trace's book will generate more income than our previous titles, it means we'll have the funds to move forward on other great projects that we have waiting in the wings. Working on the manuscript for All I Want to Do is Live has completely energized our team, and now the funds from this campaign can keep the Pioneers Press publishing program up and running. We're honored to be able to continue our work with Trace, and we're confident that the momentum initiated by this campaign will allow us to better support the amazing up-and-coming authors who find a home at Pioneers Press.” Forthcoming titles from Pioneers Press: What We Talk about When We Talk About Punk by Jessie Lynn McMains Cheer the Eff Up Anthology by Jonas Cannon Escape by Andrea Hejlskov Safer Way to Leave by Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian The Green and the Gold by Bart Schaneman

Current titles from Pioneers Press (available at the $300 perk level):

Caveworld by Adam Gnade

Locust House by Adam Gnade

The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Fighting the Big Motherfuckin' Sad by Adam Gnade

Quitter: Good Luck Not Dying by Trace Ramsey

Every Thug is a Lady: Adventures without Gender by Julia Eff

Someplace Else: On Wanderlust, Expatriate Life, and the Call of the Wild by Bart Schaneman

This collection is a point of divergence, my entry into literary nonfiction in book form, a point of resolution to continue my journey from self-distribution of chapbooks to getting essays published and receiving national recognition. This new book is what I have worked toward over the last decade. “Trace’s writing is engrossingly polished, yet still brimming with spontaneous energy and ragged beauty. The writing is dense and detailed, it demands the reader’s attention and full focus. … it’s difficult to firmly classify; it uses memory as a literary device, and it’s often honest to the point of brutality. We can’t wait to see what happens next.” Zine Nation, September 2016 The concept of this campaign is simple: create and print a beautiful book with an aesthetic that feels good in the reader’s hands. How is that accomplished? Think of a book with a textured, uncoated cover. Think of a book where the title is slightly sunken (debossed) into the thick cover material. Textured cover stock and debossing of text more than doubles the price of printing the book. But those two small things go a long way. A book like that will stand out on your shelf and the shelves of a bookstore. “Trace’s descriptions of the nature around them and attention to detail are superb, putting the reader right into their writing, as though you’re experiencing the dry grass beneath their feet, the hot summer nights in the South, and the personal family tragedy that lives in your blood and veins and travels on to your children.” Razorcake, August 2016 Along with the paperback copies, we plan to have a limited number of hardcovers made by Gerald Ward, a bookbinder based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Gerald loves creating special bindings and editions of books and is very excited about the opportunity to be involved with this new project. The goal is to go to print in mid-January and send out the perks to the funders by late-February. Our minimum goal for this project—$6,000—covers production of the paperback (which includes the custom dies needed for debossing and the special textured cover stock) and the production of the limited edition hardcovers. Gerald will make the hardcovers using the method of Secret Belgian Bookbinding. The finished product will look like the image below: Below is the project budget for this book: Book Manufacturing                                                                                 $6,000.00 Total Minimum Goal                                                                               $6,000.00 Perks                                                                                                        $1,200.00 Freight and mailing of perks                                                                     $1,600.00 Book Design                                                                                             $1,200.00 Total Goal                                                                                               $10,000.00 Anything over the stretch goal will go towards publishing the backlog of Pioneers Press titles as well as purchasing a replacement printer, which I will use to continue printing chapbooks. Please join us bringing this book into the world. Please reach out to your friends and family, anyone who enjoys a well-made and good looking book. Help us reach the full goal of $10,000 with your contribution, small or large, and take advantage of the great perks. Thank you all for believing in us, Trace and Pioneers Press